Qi Dali didn't ask Xin Er what Song Pian and Huang Rong were calling for, but Song Pian and Song Xian are of the same clan, the two are brothers, and Huang Rong is Xin Er's powerful political assistant, but he can also guess the general reason why Xin Er summoned the two.

After saying goodbye and retiring, he went to Huangmen Province to inform Huang Rong first, and then went to Inner History Province to inform Song Pian.

The two provinces of Huangmen and Neishi are both in the palace city of Zhongcheng, not far apart, so you don't have to run too many legs, and the beggar quickly notified you in place, and went out of the palace with the two of you, and respectfully sent the two of them to the outside of the Xin Gongfu.

Xin Er didn't ask him to go back with him, and he didn't enter the house again.

There was nothing to do, begging vigorously to stand on the bustling streets where people came and went for a while, and saw the vast area in the west of the Xin Gongfu, with green trees and cornices stacked to expose the middle platform outside the wall, and said in his heart: "I beg to be a rough beard, the blessing of the Duke of Ming, I can't imagine that there will be a day when I will be friends with the old man!" The value has risen! It's just that at the banquet the day before yesterday, the old man promised me when he was drunk, and I was busy these two days, and I didn't have time to visit him, but don't let him regret it afterwards and not admit it! I might as well take advantage of my free time today to buy two mentions of fruit, and go to his house to see him, and publicize this matter in front of his colleagues, so that I can give him a certainty, even if I don't want to, I have nothing to do! ”

Qi Dali didn't know that Fu Qiao came to Xun Zhen yesterday to confirm the truth of this matter, but his guess about Fu Qiao's mind was very right, Fu Qiao was indeed very remorseful, but he couldn't regret it. Thinking about it, he was shy, majestically took a ganhu and Tang entourage, went to the city in front of him, bought some fruits and other things from the Western Regions, and selected a bundle of good cistanche from his own shop in the city, wrapped it in a red cloth, turned back the original way, personally carried it, entered the middle platform, and went to the Ministry of Rites to find Fu Qiao's goer.

Son-in-law, son-in-law. Friendship, that is, the meaning of brother-in-law, is a more literate expression.

At the banquet that day, after Fu Qiao promised to accept the widow's wife and sister, Yang Chao and others who were at the banquet at the time felt funny, and they coaxed and said this word, and beggar asked what this word meant, and remembered it firmly.

After all, it is to deal with cultural people a lot, in this atmosphere, ears and eyes, and begging vigorously himself knows that he is "rude", in private very envious of Fu Qiao's knowledge, demeanor, but also ashamed and brave, quite "studious and tireless", now a small achievement, not only has been able to understand Tang characters, in addition to his endless "proverbs", from time to time can also say a few allusions, pop out a few sentences, such as the "friend", "helpless", all belong to this category, compared to his past, it can be said that it is a huge progress.

Not to mention that he went to "visit" Fu Qiao, but only said that Huang Rong and Song Pian entered the house to see Xin Er.

Seeing the two of them coming, Xin Er sent out the official who was meeting him and asked him to go to bed.

Huang Rong is now one of the two chief officials of Huangmen Province, and Chen Sun, who was once Linghufeng's confidant, and after Linghufeng's death, Chen Sun, one of the ministers of Gu Ming, is already on an equal footing, and his identity is far more noble than Song Pian. Song Pian saw this scene, didn't say anything, and sat down with low eyebrows and sat down with Huang Rong's hand.

To put it mildly, Huang Rong's current status is indeed more noble than Song Pian, Song Pian's current internal history squire is a middle-level official of the Inner History Province, and there are two officials above the internal history supervisor Zhang Hun and Inner History Ling Yangchao, which are indeed not as good as Huang Rong, if the two sit in a row, Huang Rong is not wrong to be above Song Pian, but one, in the past in Jiankang County, Song Pian was a county prince, and Huang Rong was only a subordinate of Jiankang County Government at that time, although the two are not unified, but after all, Song Pian's official position is higher than Huang Rong, that is, Huang Rong was Song Pian's subordinate, the two, Song Pian is the highest official position of the Song family in the court, and it can be said that it is the only remaining representative of the Song family.

But Huang Rong is such a person, when he was low, he hated these children of the valve clan, thinking that they were the silverfish of the country, and now they are in power, and on the contrary, the Song family has declined, and he will not pretend to do anything about humility again.

The two sat down.

After waiting for the government official to bring tea to the two of them, Xin Er waved his hand and asked the government official to go out, and his eyes fell on Huang Rong and Song Pian.

Huang Rong and Song Pian were both wearing matching summer red official uniforms, with complete crown belts, and it was very hot in the hall, and both of them were sweating.

Xin Er said: "I'm a little hot here. There is a fan on the couch, and you fan it yourself. ”

Huang Rong said: "Ming Gong, Rong didn't use ice cubes to cool down in the official house, this bit of heat has long been used to it." ”

Song Pian beat Xiao Jin Yi and jade food, couldn't stand the heat, and got Xin Er's permission, picked up the fan and fanned, the fan didn't hit twice, he heard Xin Er ask him, and said, "Old Song, how do I treat you?" ”

He hurriedly put down the fan and responded: "Ming Gong treats the lower officials, and he is deeply and righteously gracious." ”

"Then why are you doing such a thing behind my back?"

Xin Er's tone was very peaceful, but it fell into Song Pian's ears, but it was like spring thunder.

He was startled and said, "Ming Gong, what did the lower official do behind Ming Gong's back?" ”

"You don't know what you did yourself, do you have to say it?"

The weather was hot, Song Pian's face was already red, but as Xin Er's tone gradually became a little stricter, his face became more and more red, like a steamed lobster, and his body sitting on the couch also writhed uneasily.

He couldn't resist Xin'er's gaze, got down from the couch, bowed to the ground in fear, and said, "Yes, the lower official is wrong." ”

Xin Er's sentence was actually just to scare Song Pian, the intention was to pave the way for his later words, but he didn't expect Song Pian to bow down and "admit his mistake" because of his own deception, but he was stunned, but his face did not change, and he said slowly: "What is wrong with you?" ”

Song Pian said: "Lower officials should not accept bribes, let alone be greedy for public funds. ”

"Who are you taking bribes from? How much public money was embezzled? ”

Song Pian honestly explained them one by one. It turned out that after he took office as the Shilang of the Inner History, although this position was not a high-ranking official, it was also a prominent position in the three provinces, and most of the subordinate officials below understood Song Pian's greed for money, and in order to please him, there were many people who gave him gifts and money, and he did not refuse to come, and they all laughed and accepted, this is one of them; The public money of the Ministry of Internal History, his subordinates made up names, embezzled a lot, and gave him the big head, he knew where the money came from, but he didn't care, just accepted it, this is the second thing.

Bribery, embezzlement, the sum of the two dollars is about one million.

Huang Rong looked at him with disdain, let out a snort in his nose, and said in his heart: "Ming Gong summoned the two of me here today, is it for Song Pian's bribery?" In Jiankang before, Song Pian wantonly made a lot of money, but now that his Song family has been defeated, he still dares to do this! Silverfish are also! Wait for Ming Gong to finish asking him, I see what Ming Gong means, if you look at the face of the Song family, if you just want to admonish him, it's fine, if you want to punish him, so as to hit the Song family's reputation, I should strongly support it, and suggest severe punishment! ”

"For the sake of the Song family's face" Yunyun, but the Song family has decayed, and it is still decayed under the blow of Xin Er, so what face is there to see? Huang Rong thinks so, is it wrong? This is not the case. It is precisely because the Song family is Xin Er who personally cracked down on decay, and at the same time, after all, the Song family is the first-class valve family in Longzhou, although it is declining, its reputation still exists, so for Song Pian, the only remaining representative of the Song family in the court, considering factors such as public opinion in politics and other aspects, and the bottoming out that may be provoked, Xin Er is not good to kill Song Pian again. Therefore, Huang Rong first speculated that Xin Er's possible handling of this would be whether he would just "admonish" Song Pian.

After listening to Song Pian's confession, Xin Er was silent for a while, sighed, and said: "Old Song, Fang Jin Guyin City, they are all saying that the old Cao family is the richest, although your family is not as good as the Cao family, but it is also very rich. Thousands of acres of fertile land, groups of slaves and maids, I heard that even your family's stables are hung in Qingluo, you are already so rich, why do you still do such a thing as bribery? ”

"Gu Jia'er."

Song Pian's answer left Xin Er speechless.

Xin Er can also understand Song Pian's thoughts, in the current troubled times, there is no stable political and social environment, not to mention ordinary people, that is, the upper class valve clan, and the day is not safe, so there are some scholars who drink and live under anesthesia, some scholars live in seclusion in the countryside, refusing to go out, and some scholars wander in order to resist and escape from reality, Song Pian collects wealth like life, which is also one of them.

The so-called "Gu Jia'er" does not mean that Song Pian is a good man of the "Gu family", but what he means is that the world is chaotic, if you are an official today, you may not be able to do it tomorrow, so how can you let the wives and concubines and children in the family live a stable life? It's just about getting more money.

"Alas, Old Song, what are you telling me to say about you?"

"The lower officials know their mistakes, please punish them clearly."

Huang Rong pricked up his ears and waited for Xin Er's next words.

Xin Er said: "That's it, that's it, you and I used to be colleagues in Jiankang County, and now we are officials in the same court, you can be corrupt, but I can't have friendship." Tomorrow, you will make a list of the names of the officials who gave you money, send them to the Ministry of Officials, and hand them over to the Ministry of Officials, and I will ask him to carefully examine the past political abilities of these officials, and those who have no talent will be dismissed, and those who have some talents will be left behind, and they will not be promoted within ten years; The name of the official who made up a name and embezzled public funds, you also wrote it to Lilan, and he will be severely punished! …… As for you, Lao Song, you can't do it again, I hope you will change your past mistakes from now on, and don't let me hear such things again! ”

As Huang Rong expected, Xin Er chose to let Song Pian go.

Song Pian was grateful and said: "Ming Gong is kind and righteous, and Pian will never forget it!" ”

"Get up and sit down."

Song Pian got up and returned to the couch and sat down.

This time he sat down, because of his nervousness and panic, although he sweated more, he didn't fan the wind again.

Xin Er looked at Song Pian and Huang Rong again, and said in his heart: "I was scaring Lao Song twice, but I unexpectedly cheated him out of his bribery. The words got to the point, and said, "Old Song, Jing Huan, there is a rumor in Jingshi recently, have you two heard of it?" ”

Huang Rong secretly regretted that Xin Er did not rectify Song Pian, but this was also in his expectation, so he answered Xin Er's question at the moment, and said: "Ming Gong, the Yellow Gate is newly built, all affairs are busy, Rong has been eating and living in the official house for several days, and he has hardly left the palace gate, but he doesn't know what rumors are there in the city today?" ”

Xin Er asked Song Pian and said, "Old Song, do you know? ”

Song Pian hesitated and said, "Pian, Pian......, Pian heard something." ”

"Tell Jing Huan what rumors are."

Song Pian said: "The recent rumors in Jingshi show that the public wants to use the power of the Hu people to destroy the scholars. This is obviously nonsense! Corporal Ming Gong Lixian, the scholars of all counties in Longzhou praised Ming Gong,......"

Xin Er interrupted Song Pian's unnutritious sycophants and said with a smile: "I also said that I have a heart of disobedience." ”

Huang Rong was shocked when he heard this, and immediately became furious, patted the couch and said, "Who spread this rumor?" Its intentions are vicious, and its heart can be punished! Ming Gong, immediately find out and give the person who spreads the rumor a heavy punishment! ”

Xin Er said: "Who is the person who spread the rumors, it has not been found out for the time being, but one person has been found, and he dances the most happily among them." ”

Huang Rong asked, "Who is it?" ”

Xin Yi looked at Song Pian with a smile and said, "Song Xian." ”

Huang Rong immediately understood the real reason why Xin Er summoned him and Song Pian to meet.

"Poof", Huang Rong looked, Song Xian rolled down from the couch again and fell to the ground.

He said in a trembling voice: "Ming Gong, this matter has nothing to do with Pian!" It doesn't matter! Pian An guards himself, and he is also a person! ”